hello. glad to have you with us on nhk "newsline." i'm yamamoto miki in tokyo. appears to have decided on the lineup of the party's executive posts. suga yoshihide won t the parart leadership race on monday by taking nearly 70% of the votes. he is set to retain secretary

general and diet committee affairs person. he also intends to name sa sato tsutomu as chairperson. and yamaguchi taimei as election strategy chairperson. means that the key post will be filled by members from the five interparty factions that backed him in the election. suga is preparing for the laufr launch of his new cabinet. observers say deputy prime minister aso taro will likely hold a new post in the cabinet. attention is also focused on who willll succeed suga as chief cabinet secretary. suga is in the selection process centering on his deputies under

the administration of prime minister abe shinzo. nhk has learned british pharmaceutical giant, astrazeneca, plans to resume trials of a coronavirus vaccine soon, following their resumption in britain. this week, at the earliest, in multiple locations in japan, with about 250 people aged 18 or older taking part. astrazeneca is working with oxford university to develop the vaccine. trials in britain and brazil are in their final phase. but the drugmaker halted its trials around the world, last week, after one of the participants in britain deveveloped an unexplained illness. astrazeneca said, in a statement on saturday, that it had resumed the trials in britain after an independenent committee cononcl it was safe to do s so. the firm agreed with the japanese government, last month, to provide doses for at least 60 million people. it aims to make 50 million doses

available by march of next year. t turning to preparations f the tokyo olympic sqs and paralympics. organizers are looking for ways to reieign in costs. nhk has learned that final arrangements are underway to streamline plans in dozens of areas. the plan is for tokyo organizers and international olympic committee officials to reach a consensus at an ioc meeting later later this month. more than 200 areas are being examined for cost-saving measures. the organizing committee picked more than 50 of them to focus on simplifying. they will, also, hook at tlook participants in the opening and closing ceremonies, the number of seats allocated for officials, and how to implement

the torch relay. the list is expected to be presented at a board meeting of the organizing committee on tuesday. the operator of the damaged nuclear power plant in fukushima northeastern japan plans to build a taller seawall to help protect against possible, future tsunami. a government panel, in april, made a projection on the possible scale of seismic sea waves that could be triggered by a massive quake along the japan trench off the northeastern shore. tokyo electric power company, or tepco, analyzed the projection, and found that the waves as high as over 50 meters could hit south of the number four reactor. a seawall of about 13 meters has already been completed in the area. another 11-meter seawall is under construction on the ocean side of the plant compound. tepco officials, on monday, decided to build another seawall of around 60 meters before the end of march 2023. the wall is one of the

anti-tsunami measures being taken by the company as it decommissions the plant. russian president vladimir putin reiterated his support for the embattled leader of belarus in a face-to-face meeting on monday. alexander lukashenko visited russia for the first time since protest erupts against his disputed victory in elections last month. he offered to provide about $1.5 billion in n loans to belarurus. >> translator: i hopee that belarusians find a common solution through dialogue, and without outside pressure. >> lukashenko thanked putin for his support.

>> translator: russia is like an oldeder brother to belararus. our country wants closer cooperation with russia over a range of issues, includeingg th economy. lukashenko's opoepts say they are disappointed by putin's stance. in a social mediaia message, svetlana tikhanovskaya said russians should not allow their taxes to becaused for oppression in belarus. spreading wildfires have claimed at least 25 lives in three u.s. west coast states, and are affecting parts of canada. state authorities have confirmed 22 deaths in california, two in oregon, and one in washington. the blazes, fanned by dry air and strong winds, have burned 1.25 million hectares of california's forest, making them the worst in u.s. history. in oregon, fires have spread through more than -- 30 locations, rather, forcingng thousands of people to evacuate. video footage taken on sunday

shows a completely burned residentiaial area where rescue and dogs were looking for survivors. as the crews searched, residents sifted through the remains of theieir homes. >> came back here for the first time. and it's the worst thing i've ever seen, in my life. it's -- i had seen videos. but it's a thousand times worse than i could've ever imagined. smoke and ash have reached the canadian province of british columbia, shrouding ththe cityt vavancouver in haze, on saturda. british columbia officials are calling on people with respiratory problems to refrain from outdoor activities. the province is on the alert for possible wildfires in its southern areas. and, now, a peek into the past. a team of high school students in hiroshima are using futuristic technology to make history come alive and preserve the memories of a-bomb

survivors. >> a quiet shopping street. this is what hiroshima looked like, some 75 years s ago. until thatt day, august 6thth, n ththe atomic bomb w was unleash. a searing flash of light filled the sky. then, everything plunged into pitch blackness, as flames enveloped the city. high school students in hiroshima prefecture created these computer graphics. under a teacher's guidance, they amassed a hugee collection of materials about how people lived, in those days, and what the city looked like, to ensure the accuracy of their computer simulation. they have also archived more than 400 testimonies by

hibaksha, people who survived the bombing, to understand their experiences and reflect them in the simulation. a tornado of fire and smoke tore through the building. the sun disappeared, and i was surrounded by a sea of fire. a member of the team says he'd never had a chance, until now, to think, in depth, about the damage caused by the bomb. >> translator: without a deep understanding of what happened, it will just feel hollow. this work has been really important in helping me develop my own ideas. >> the students also ask survivors to view their work using a vivirtual-reality heads. 91-year-old was living close to ground zero when the bomb was dropped. >> translator: the position of the mailbox was on the other side. and the color of the wall needs

working on, a bit. it wasn't so bright. it was darker and faded. >> they were able too fix the locationon of the mailbox, andn adjust the shade of the wall. the completed footage has brought to life the cityscape of hiroshima, before its destruction. shop signs have been faithfully reproduced, down to the font types. photo inserts show what the streets look like today, for viewers to compare. >> translator: for us, the important thing is to show what the people living there would have seen. using this technology, we want to pass on these memories of the past so they live on into the future. >> the high school students are

now expanding the scope of their virt virtual-reality simulation, to encourage as many people as possible to appreciate the importance of peace. ♪ ♪ weather with our meteorologist yoko. yoko, in the u.s., people are bracing for another hurricane after laura lashed through their gulf coast. where are we seeing the biggest risks? >> so we have, now, five storms in the atlantic. and this one, named sally, is going to -- going to be the main

concern. this storm system is expected to make landfall as a category 2 hurricane, and it could be the second hurricane to hit the gulf state ts in t three w weeks. people in the area are preparing for potential storm surges and strong winds. tropical storm sally became a category 1 hurricane on monday, just southeast of mississippi. some companies are preparing to shut down operations, as the storm system approaches. authorities s have issued evacuatition orders for r resid in low-lying areas. people should expect storm surges from the mississippi river to ocean springs. sally will slow down as it makes landfall. so heavy rain and winds may impact the same locations, in places like southern mississippi and louisiana. rainfall could total 600 millimeters. coastal areas may see storm surges with up to 3 meters expected so coastal flooding,

storm surges, and damaging winds are the main concerns. further northeast, we are looking at massive wildfires. dry conditions will persist in these areas, throughout monday. but some relief will come in the latter part of the day on tuesday. vancouvever will have some shows as we go into tuesday morning. in the pacific -- actually, let's go to east asia. we are looking at the ultimate rainy season front, that stretches across southern china all the way to japan. it will bring wididespread shows with up too 100 millimeters, especially in s southern chinin. in the pacific, a new tropical depression is pushing into the phililippines. ththis one iss a large storm system. so heavy rain a and strong wind will affect the country, widely. as the storm system moves over the south china sea on wednesday, heavy rain will spread toward the indo-china

peninsula. and showers will also move into hong kong and taipei. that's it for now. stay safe. ♪ ♪ ♪

>> and that's all for this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm yamamoto miki in tokyo. thanks for staying with us. welcome to "newsline in depth." today, we visit a man who is in a fight for his life. muto is the author of this book, "keep momoving." in it, he describes his battle against amytropic, als, there is

no cure for als, which eventually stops the nerves from functioning. but muto is living his life to the full. we catch up with muto to see where he is at with his project. >> muto, on stage in december 2019. muto djs at music events. he also has created clothing, garments that everyone can wear. and he takes any platform to speak about als, including radio. muto has been embracing the restrictions due to als and is continuing to raise awareness through his orgrganization c ca with als. now, muto cannot on his own. muscles in his throat atrophied, requiring operation in january to prevent choking and that cost

him his natural voice. muto can, now, only move his eyes and his fingertips. he communicates by using eyeye-tracking input and voice synthesis. this artificial voice is based on his original voice. muto needs 24-hour care, and he said that he loses more and more of his abilities, with each passing day. >> muto was diagnosed with als

six years ago, when he was 27. he was working at an advertising agency, and had just started thinking about marrying yuko, now, his wife. here is muto two years ago, reflecting on how he reacted to the diagnosis. he also felt conflicted about accepting help from anyone but his wife. but that approach, soon, left both muto and yuko exhausted. muto started to realize that he needed to promote a society

where he can ask for help, and keep having hope. he decided to work with various experts to develop technologies to make the imimpossible, possible. knowing he would eventually lose the ability to speak and use his hands, they worked to create a system that allows muto to keep communicating with his voice, combined with an eye-tracking keyboard. to make this a reality, he recorded himself speaking for days on end. as als progresses, patients lose their abilityty to contrtrol th eyes and eyelids. muto wanted to answer this challenge by using hisis brain, which woululd remain unaffected to communicate. he began researching the technology to do this.

offering himself as a guinea pig. his research partner is i.t. technician, okino. using a graph to read muto's brain waves, he's been training artificial intelligence to interpret the source as accurately as possible. the team aims to realize a system that is affordable and simple to operate. >> translator: until now, basically, large, $300,000 or more to read brain waves. since muto joined this project, our aim is to create something als patients can use and get easily. >> in december last year, muto introduced the technology at his event. muto used a system to create rap by reading and interpreting his

own brain waves. first, the ai played two word frequently used by mututo. muto then chooses the word he wants and a brain wave sensor reads his selection. the system uses the chosen word to create lyrics. muto and his team hope to start seselling the system to read brn waves, by the end of this year. >> translator: it has inspired me to live life to the full educate, frfullest, from now on. >> muto is working furiously, not only for his own sake but, alsoso, for others who are struggling with als. in july, a new story left muto in shock. two doctors were arrested on suspicion of killing an als patient. the female patient was

reportedly seeking euthanasia, which is illegal in japan. she had contacted the doctors through social media. that sense of hope is driving muto to take on new dhchallenge. together, with his collaborators and family, he is searching for new possibilities in technology, business, and music.

we have, in our studio, the clothing muto designed for people with and without disabilities. this jacket is one of his pieces. it uses magnets, instead of buttons. and there's a pocket on the sleeve to hold cards, so you don't need to pull them out. the profits from the line go to als research for a cure. similar projects for a barrier-free society are going on around us. this small device translates sounds into vibrations and light, as you can see. it's to help the hearing impaired become more active in their communities. in our next story, we see how the develop ever er is working

users to make this tool even more useful and fun. >> this is aan who developed it. here, he is introducing the device to a dance and studio group that include people with disabilities. he believes those who actually use t the technhnology give thet feedback, both positive andd negative. > translator: making somomet with the help of people who actually use the product resesus in something that makes everyone, not just people with disabilities, smile together. i want to make things the world finds enjoyable. >> kamimoto has had hearing difficulties since birth. transforms sound into vibrations. with that assistance, she can successfully sing with other

people, perfectly synchronized. >> honda started developing the technology seven years ago, when he was in college. as he mingled with hearing-impaired friends, he wondered if there was an easy way to share the sounds of everyday life with them. honda later joined a large electronics company that agreed to support his project. last year, honda distributed the ontenna to 70% of schools for hearing impaired in japan. but the coronavirus pandemic forced schools to close. honda learned that the stay-at-home measures caused children to suffer physically and mentally.

honda had an idea. dancing. by modifying the ontenna to automatically respond to the rhythm of a dancece track, children would have a fun reason to move around. he chose a song "dancicing on t inside." the lyrics encourage people to enjoy themselves during the stay-at-home campaign. he wanted children to be able to count rhythm easilily. seeking help, he turned to a professional hearing-impaired dancer. following her advice, honda reprogrammed the ontenna, allowing it to vibe right in time with the song's fast and irregular rhythm. time to try it out.

a computer with the ontenna program installed arrives at the home of two hearing-impaired children. subtitled so they can understand what the song is saying while dancing. honda connects online so he can watch the children dance. >> translator: up to now, thinking centered on how to get people with disabilities to do the same things as able-bodied people, focused on how to minimize their disability. but through technology, we can create completely new and different values that will make it irrelevant whether a person has disabilities or not.

>> muto and honda use technology and collaborations, n not only break down the walls between those with and witut disabilities but, to help all sorts of people have fun together. and that's the dream of a barrier-free and inclusive society.

jewsh settlers giving the sentence for a fire bomb attack that killed three members of a palestinian family. i am lauren taylor. this is al jazeera fly from london. also coming up, facing mass protests at home, the belarusian president the bush bingo heads he is assured a fresher support. controversial legislation is part of the first stage in the paving the way to break international law for brexit.